Nikolina Babić

Nikolina Babic, PhD, DABCC, FADLM, is a Professor of Pathology at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is committed to evidence-based laboratory medicine and the use of novel technologies to advance diagnostics and patient care. With expertise in both high-complexity clinical testing and rapid point-of-care testing (POCT), she is passionate about developing and implementing testing strategies that improve equitable access to care. Her research focuses on leveraging POCT to deliver timely, high-quality diagnostics and enhance patient outcomes. She has a strong interest in reducing the burden of sexually transmitted infections through rapid, accurate POCT solutions and in creating laboratory algorithms that accelerate clinical decision-making. She is also actively involved with ADLM, CLSI and CAP.

Tentative Title:

Showcasing the Clinical Value of Point of Care Testing in Infectious Diseases

Session/panel summary and proposed speakers:

Session Overview: Despite the availability of excellent Point of Care (POC) diagnostic tests for infectious diseases, their use is still inadequate, resulting in sub-optimal patient management. This session will provide a clinician’s perspective on patient management challenges and discuss unmet needs, particularly in marginalized patient populations. The session will also address strategies the laboratory community can deploy to leverage POC testing to enable timely access to care. Audience polling will be incorporated to assess the participants’ current practices, and clinical cases will be presented to illustrate needs across different patient populations and highlight the potential impact of POC testing. The session will close with a panel discussion to facilitate this very important dialog.

Statement of need: WHO encourages use of POC tests for diagnosis of infectious diseases, especially in resource limited settings, because of their simplicity, short turnaround time and wide accessibility. They provide actionable results near the patient and pave the way for prompt diagnosis. Despite being powerful tool for effective patient care, antibiotic stewardship, and outbreak containment POC tests are still not widely used.

Pillar and Topic/Subtopic:

PILLAR 1: FRONTIERS HEALTH & CLINICAL INNOVATIONS

1.3: Clinical & Public Health Microbiology

Sub-topic 1.3c: Diagnostics: Bacteriology, Public Health Microbiology, Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology